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Surviving, Not Living/Issue 31
This is Issue 31 of Surviving, Not Living, entitled Into the Dark. This is the first issue of Volume 6. Issue 31 - Into the Dark In the midst of the infected attack, Charlotte still laid on the floor, holding onto her life. Bobby’s hands were covered in her blood… There was no way that she could be saved, not with a half-eaten stomach, and he knew that. Ava had said goodbye. There was only one thing left to do… He was mentally preparing himself, close to ending her suffering, when the two strangers burst into the building. “Hey, you!” The petite, brunette woman called to Vicky. Vicky span on the spot and looked across to her. The newcomer grabbed a magazine from her belt and threw it across the room. Vicky grabbed the round and slammed it into her gun. “Thanks, I guess!” She shouted in response. Vicky sent two bullets into an infected’s head. It collapsed soon after. But, they’d need a lot more than one more round of ammunition to take down the dozens of infected making their way across the playground and in through the door. “You’re welcome, I guess.” The outsider replied. “Don’t forget to stick behind me and remember to not take any risks.” The second stranger, a muscular man, told the woman. She scoffed and rolled her eyes. The man, Kane, ran forwards and leaped onto one of the infected. It fell backwards to the floor and, while straddling the undead, he pierced it’s skull with the knife. Next to him, an infected reached out. Zach sprinted over and pressed the nuzzle of his gun to it’s right temple. The man fired, sending guts and chunks of brain flying out from the other side of it’s head. “Why are you here?” Zach questioned, doing his best to look intimating. “Technically, we were here first.” Kane told him, not replying to his question yet keeping eye contact. “Why are you here?” The younger man repeated himself. “We’re from a group of survivors,” The dark-skinned man began to explain. He raised his gun to his left and shot an infected between the eyes, without moving his eyes once. “We’re set up not too far away in an abandoned railway station not too far away. We’ve been looking for new people.” Across the room, with one swift movement, Jackie sliced the foreheads of two infected open. These gaping holes made easy access for her knife to pierce the brain. Bobby’s hand-to-hand combat lessons at the farm had done them good, she thought. “There’s too many!” Jackie screamed. “Everyone fall back!” From the main doorway, the foreign woman fired at the infected with a small pistol. Her weapon had been adjusted with a silencer on the end and an extended clip for maximum ammunition. She constantly fired one bullet after another, hitting infected every time. She didn’t look like a survivor but she definitely was a talented marksman. “We’re getting out of here!” Bobby told Amelia, once he had taken down yet another infected with his knife. “You take Ava out of here. I’ll deal with Charlotte.” “No,” Amelia stopped her brother, Ava still cuddled around her waist. “Let me do this. You go out first, make sure this isn’t some trick from Dallas and his group.” She looked over her should to see Zach back-to-back with the male newcomer, both firing from guns. “You sure you can do this?” He asked. “You know I can.” Amelia nodded. With no further argument, Bobby picked Ava up and carried her on his front. The young girl screamed at the top of her lungs, kicking and screaming to get away. Bobby walked towards the girl near the door. “I’m so sorry…” She spoke, understanding the situation. He simply nodded in response, “Let’s just get everyone out of here.” Three infected surrounded Ellie, near the dinner table. She lifted her foot and kicked on of the undead’s knees. It fell forwards and crush it’s skull with her boot. The second infected leaped forwards, she quickly jumped to the side. It flew forwards and landed against the table, crashing into the chairs as it went. The blonde grabbed the collar of the other infected’s shirt and threw the monster against the wall. With a clear window to the doorway, she ran over to Bobby. After a few seconds, everyone but Amelia were standing at the doorway. Danny was holding Ava, who cried into his chest. He rubbed her back, tears also forming in his eyes. Charlotte looked up at Amelia with bloodshot eyes. Amelia thought she was strong. She thought she would’ve put Charlotte out of her misery by now. In all her years of surviving in the apocalypse, she’d never had something like that. Suddenly, an infected toppled forwards and landed on Charlotte. She screamed out in agony as it tore her stomach open. It’s blood-covered hands reached in and ripped her intestines out. The woman let out a blood-curdling scream. Without thinking, Amelia moved the gun to Charlotte’s head and pulled the trigger. Soon, all fear drained out from her eyes and her face went blank. Bobby appeared behind his sister. He placed one hand on each arm and pulled her back. “Come on, we’ve gotta go.” ______________________________________________________________________________ Outside, the situation wasn’t much better. The infected seemed to be coming from every direction. The new girl led the group, firing at the infected coming from the trees. Visibility was poor; moonlight was all the light that they had to work with. Danny was next to her, holding Ava in a cradle-like hold. “Good job, woman.” Danny scoffed, impressed by her skills. “The name’s Joanna. I’d like it if you used it.” She snapped. Amelia was at the back with Bobby. Her skinned looked very pale. The young man slipped the gun away from her hands and passed it to Jackie. Jackie took the gun without looking, keeping her eyes locked on her next takedown. In one swift movement, she swung her arm around and sent a bullet into the creature’s brain. Kane and Zach ran up to Joanna. Zach overtook them and fired at the infected in front, trying to make a clear pathway. “I’m going to call it in,” Kane told his female companion, raising a walkie-talkie to his mouth. “How many have we got?” She asked him. “Seven adults and one child?” “Hold your horses!” Vicky stopped them, appearing beside them. She pierced the skull of an infected with her knife and quickly withdrew it, sending blood splattering across her shirt. “You’re not calling anything in. The last time we met a new group of people, two of our group ended up dead.” “We’re good people.” Joanna insisted as they continued to walk. “Besides, you could easily take us if we turned against you.” Vicky sighed loudly, “Go on then – radio it in or whatever. Just know that if you turn out to be cannibalistic freaks, the first bullet will go in your brain.” “Don’t threaten her.” Kane took a step closer to Vicky. She rolled her eyes and turned around, kicking an infected out of close proximity. He raised the small device to her mouth. “Come in, Jessie…” Next to him, Zach fired a bullet into an infected’s head. A splatter of blood landed on Kane’s face. He took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. “Yup, what’s up?” A woman’s voice replied. “We’ve got seven adults and a child. We’ll meet you at the rendezvous point in around thirty minutes.” He informed. “Eight people?!” Jessie shrieked through the device. She seemed excited. “That’s awesome. Be careful, see you soon.” “You got it, boss.” Kane told her, before returning the walkie-talkie to his belt. ______________________________________________________________________________ After a while, the group had made their way through the herd of infected with no more casualties. They all walked slowly along the main road, weaving in-and-out of abandoned cars. There was a depressing mood cast across the group. Everyone dragged themselves along the road, looking down at the floor. There were a few infected a few yards behind the group but they were not an immediate danger. Zach and Ellie stayed behind as a back-up, holding hands. They were least-affected by Charlotte’s death, except the newcomers, and were the only ones in the right emotional state for fighting infected. Kane and Joanna walked at the front of the group. They spoke very quietly, respectful of the mourning group of survivors. Somewhere in the middle of the group, Jackie quietly cried into Danny’s chest. He soothing rubbed her blonde hair in an effort to comfort her. Amelia sighed quietly and wiped a tear from her face. Bobby wrapped an arm his weeping sister. Vicky walked next to them, holding a still-sobbing Ava. “I’m proud of you.” Bobby whispered in Amelia’s ear. “Sarah would be proud, too.” She nodded, looking up when Bobby started whistling. It was a soft, slow tune. Amelia opened her mouth. Her voice was weak and fragile, yet still so sweet and impressive. Love of mine, some day you will die… '' ''But I'll be close behind, '' ''I'll follow you into the dark… '' ''No blinding light or tunnels to gates of white, '' ''Just our hands clasped so tight, '' ''Waiting for the hint of a spark '' As they strolled onwards, members of the group looked back over their shoulders. They listened to Amelia; the words of the song pulling at their heartstrings. Bobby looked over to her and smiled, giving her the confidence to continue singing while he whistled. ''If Heaven and Hell decide '' ''That they both are satisfied… '' ''Illuminate the No's on their vacancy signs… '' ''If there's no one beside you, '' ''When your soul embarks, '' ''Then I'll follow you into the dark… '' An half-rotten infected reached out from one of the cars, still trapped by it’s seatbelt. Bobby whistled louder to drain out the loud groaning. Amelia stepped over a crack in the road where long grass had grown through. ''In Catholic school as vicious as Roman rule… '' ''I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black '' ''And I held my tongue as she told me, '' ''"Son, fear is the heart of love." '' ''So I never went back… '' Joanna looked over to Kane and mouthed the words ‘good people.’ He shrugged his shoulders. ''If Heaven and Hell decide '' ''That they both are satisfied… '' ''Illuminate the No's on their vacancy signs… '' ''If there's no one beside you, '' ''When your soul embarks, '' ''Then I'll follow you into the dark… “Stop.” Zach spoke loudly. The rest of the group turned around and frowned. Amelia stopped singing. “Zach...” Ellie moaned. “No, I’m sorry. The singing was lovely.” He told Amelia. “But, where are we going? It’s pitch black outside and we can’t see the way we’re going or anything. You could be leading us to a slaughterhouse for all we know.” Kane stopped walking and turned around, “I told you – we’re going to a rendezvous point.” “Where are we going from there?” Ellie asked. “As I said before, we’re part of a group of survivor in an abandoned railway station. There’s not many of us there. It’s just me, Joanna and around fifteen others. We work as a democracy – there are four leaders.” Kane explained. Danny squinted, looking at the man. Usually, he could tell if someone was lying just by their facial expressions, but it was too dark for that. “You’re lying.” Vicky spat. “There are no train stations in Georgia.” “The train station we’re staying at wasn’t used for commercial trains. It was a private railway that was used to transport goods to and from the coast.” Kane revealed. “Besides, there is a commercial station called Amtrak in Georgia. So, get your facts right before you accuse me of lying.” “What more do you want from us?” Joanna asked, before turning around and walking onwards. “We even stayed at the school before you. The only reason we went back there was to get some of the fruit and veg. Obviously, that didn’t quite go to plan.” “It all adds up, guys.” Bobby shrugged as he started walking again. “It explains the crops and the water system we found. Let’s just see where this goes.” ______________________________________________________________________________ Another seemingly endless period of time passed. No-one could take their minds off Charlotte and her horrific demise. The moon was lower in the sky, signalling that dawn would soon be upon them. Despite this, it was still as dark as ever. Suddenly, from a few yards ahead of them, a bright light shot up into the sky. The flare shone bright pink for a few seconds before fading out. Vicky obnoxiously sighed, “That would’ve attracted every single walker in the area.” “I’m pretty sure we just took down every walker in the area.” Jackie replied. “Jessie, we’re really close.” Kane spoke into his walkie-talkie. There was no reply. He and Joanna exchanged a worried look. “Head up the left side of the road and we’ll be with you in seconds.” “Okay, sorry. Couldn’t get this damn thing to work.” Jessie spoke back through the machine. The pair sighed a sigh of relief. Within seconds, Jessie had met up with the group. She approached them slowly, another man by her side. The woman had long, wavy brown that drifted down past her shoulders. She had a very strong jawline and was very beautiful. Her presence was immediately felt by the members of the group. Bobby could tell by the way in which Kane spoke to her that she was very respected. Jessie wore a denim jacket and cropped khaki pants. “Another brunette, good job I love ‘em.” Danny smirked. Jackie scoffed and hit him lightly on his stomach. Jessie walked up the group and shined a flashlight on each of their faces. In turn, they squinted and covered their eyes. “Sorry, guys. I just need to make sure that you’re not crazy.” She explained. “My name is Jessie. I’m one of the three leaders at the station.” “She’s young.” Bobby pointed out, whispering to Joanna. “How’d she get such a high place in your group?” “Her father was a very respected man.” The woman revealed. “We are not here to hurt you. We just came out to look for more survivors and I’m glad we did.” Jessie continued. “I can take you back with us, but I will not force you to come. We don’t have much to convince you with – just a few mattresses and a safe place to sleep. We’ve got guns, too. So, is anyone interested?” The other man walked over to Bobby and handed him a pistol. He popped the magazine out and took a look at the bullets, nodding in appreciation. “I think I can speak for everyone and say that we’re all coming.” Bobby looked around at his fellow survivors. Not one of the seven seemed to object. “We’ve got nowhere else to go.” “That’s great news.” Jessie smiled, nodding. “The station is less than five minutes away. We just meet up here to prevent drawing any attention to our main base.” Bobby nodded, not really knowing what to say. “Lead the way…” Jessie turned around and set off down the road. Joanna and Kane strolled along either side of her. “They’ve just suffered a loss recently, haven’t they?” Jessie asked. The other woman nodded. “Knew it. I could tell just by the looks on their faces.” ______________________________________________________________________________ The sun had partially rose by the time that the group arrived at the abandoned station. Rays of orange light broke out from between the clouds. Only one person stopped to admire the beautiful sight; the other being too tired after their sudden awakening. “Red sky in the morning, shepherds warning…” Danny muttered, acknowledging sunrise. Jackie appeared beside him and grabbed his arm, making sure that he didn’t fall behind. The station was more of a warehouse than a brick-built building, built up against a hill. From the outside, all of the walls seemed to be made of metal. The only windows on the building were very high up and only small. Bobby could nearly look through them, if he stood on his tip-toes. The grass surrounding the station had been haphazardly cut down. The jagged edge of the vines climbing the side of the building suggested that they had been maintained, too. Kane walked forwards and slammed his fist against the metal three times. After a few seconds, the metal door slid to the side. “We don’t have much,” Jessie spoke loudly so everyone could hear. “But what is ours, is now yours too.” “We appreciate it,” Zach thanked her as he and Ellie entered first. The rest of the group followed suit, leaving only Bobby outside. He was looking up at the building, in some sort of trance. “You comin’ to join us, mister?” Jessie smiled at him, standing beside the door. He snapped back to life and half-laughed. “What’s the deal with this place?” He asked, speaking not too harshly yet not too softly. “I’m Jessie, as you know.” She started, taking a step towards him. “I’m one of three so-called ‘leaders’ of the group. I say that because we’re more of a democracy. There aren’t many of us any more… There were only fourteen a few weeks ago. With Kane, Joanna and you seven, that brings us to twenty-three. God, we’ve nearly doubled!” Jessie seemed excited at this increase in numbers. Bobby grinned, seeing someone so happy after a horrible night was strangely uplifting. “What’s the deal with this place?” He continued with the questions, walking towards her. “My dad… He set it up, bless him…” She trailed off. “His goal – I mean, my goal - is to build a community that people don't want to leave. Rumours travel around this place fast and people set off to so-called 'safe places' in towns that aren't even on the map. Any more questions, detective?” Jessie laughed. “Nope, I’m all out.” He chuckled, finally entering the building. Jessie walked in behind him and slid the door shut. They entered directly into a small reception area. There was a reception desk directly in front of Bobby, with a large filling cabinet that once held numerous document. Behind the desk were two windows that had been partially covered with blinds. He pulled one of the slats down and peered into the warehouse. Several mattresses had been spread across the floor of the warehouse, with a few extra piled up in the corner. Strangers slept quietly, some stirring as the group entered. Bobby noticed the boy that they had met with Jessie walk over to a family of three. He kissed the older woman on her forehead and fist-bumped the two children with each hand. Across from them, Amelia gently laid down a sleeping Ava on one of the empty mattresses. To the left and right were two large doorways that led to the room. “You coming in, peeping Tom?” Jessie called as she walked through the set of doors on the left. Bobby jogged after her. Standing in the doorway on the right was Vicky. She had a jealous scowl on her face. ______________________________________________________________________________ All of the newcomers had collapsed on the nearest mattress when they arrived. All of them except Danny. He sat up on the end of the mattress that Ava was sleeping on. He’d decided it was in the group’s best intentions to stay awake for two reasons – one, they didn’t know if the station survivors were cannibalistic freaks yet and, two, a familiar face needed to be available if Ava were to wake up. And, wake up is what she did. The young girl stirred in her sleep for a few seconds before opening her eyes. She rubbed the crusty, yellow mucus from her eyes. As soon as she and Danny locked eyes, Ava burst out into tears. Reacting quickly, he reached forwards and held the girl in his arms. “Sh, sh…” The older boy quietly whispered. He was going to say ‘it’ll be alright’ but he stopped. That probably wasn’t the best way to comfort someone who had just lost their aunt. Her stifled sobs began to rise in volume, waking up the other survivors. An orange-haired large man laying across from them sighed loudly, tutted and then turned over on his mattress. Danny refrained from making a nasty comment about his ginger hair not helping when he wanted to hide from infected. Across the room, a little boy sat up on the edge of his bed. He had been sleeping alone – no parents, no siblings. He had scruffy, blonde hair and was at least a year younger than Ava. Still tired from his rest, the boy swayed from side-to-side as he walked over to her and Danny. Danny didn’t notice the younger until he was close and jumped when he finally saw him. “Uhh, sorry…” He stuttered, nervous. “Hey, little man.” Danny forced a smile. Ava still sobbed into his chest. “Can you come back a little later, please? We can’t really play now…” The young boy didn’t say anything, instead he brought his hand from behind his back to in between them. In his hand, he held a small flower. It was a daisy – a weed – but still a nice gesture. Ava pulled her head away from Danny’s chest and looked at the boy. With a shaking hand, she reached out and grabbed the flower. Ava brought it up to her nose and sniffed it. “Thank you,” Ava murmured as she wiped her eyes. Jessie appeared beside the young boy, “Come on, Noah. Leave these guys alone to sleep.” The young boy said nothing and simply ran back to his bed. “Sorry about that,” Jessie sobbed while Ava turned back to Danny and began to cry again. She crumpled the flower up in her hand before letting it fall to the side. Jessie frowned. “Noah, he-he’s sort of my brother. Adopted, obviously – we look nothing alike. I don’t think I caught your name.” “It’s Danny.” He looked up at her, pulled one hand out from underneath Ava and shook her hand. “It’s Jessie, right? You should get some sleep. I can watch over things!” “No, don’t worry about me – I’ve only been awake a few hours, not as long as them.” Jessie replied, pointing over to Kane and Joanna. Joanna and Kane each dozed on a different mattress, but they were pushed up against each other. The brunette laid on the edge of her mattress, as far away from Kane as she could. On the other hand, Kane slept as close to her as he could be, while sticking to his mattresses. “What’s the deal with them? He’s so protective of her and they’re obviously not related.” Danny asked. Jessie shrugged. “I did ask once. ‘That’s classified, he said.’” There was a moment of silence between them. “Anyway, I’ve gotta go. Take care!” She soon left. Danny stayed awake for a while after that. He alternated between making sure that Ava was comfortable and daydreaming about god-knows-what. After fifteen minutes, he fell drowsy. The man laid back and, with Ava using his stomach as a pillow, let sleep take him. ______________________________________________________________________________ Amelia didn’t wake until late that afternoon. She opened her eyes slowly at first and then suddenly snapped them open, forgetting where she was. Once the events of the previous night had been remember, she calmed down. She rubbed her head as she propped herself up on her elbow. “Nuts?” A geeky voice asked. Suddenly, a balled fist appeared in front of her face. Amelia looked up and blinked twice. Sitting on the edge of the mattress next to her was a balding man with circular glasses. “Um, yeah, please, thanks.” Amelia accepted his offer as she sat herself up. The blonde looked around for Bobby as she took the nuts from the other man. Bobby was nowhere to be seen. She shrugged. Probably spooning Vicky somewhere, she thought. “I’m Oscar, by the way.” The other man had a very nasally voice. Amelia turned to face the man. He was cute – but not attractive – and his hair had fallen out in places. “I’m Amelia,” She replied, “Thanks for the nuts…” “You were part of the eight newbies from last night, weren’t you?” Oscar chuckled after he spoke. This man was weird. Amelia tried to hide her confusion from the man’s laugh. “Yeah, I was.” She spoke back. After a moment of silence, she decided to try and continue the conversation. “It’s crazy, still meeting new people after all this time. Every time I think that we’re the only group left, I meet new people…” “Yeah, well, I have an explanation for that.” Oscar creepily smiled. She raised an eyebrow, edging him on while she ate a cashew nut. “Me and my friends, right? We say that, when the apocalypse began, the population was immediately cut to a third and it continued to decline from there. However, after ten years or whatever, the population began to rose again. People were adapting and finding new ways to give birth in the world. I’d even bet that there are the same number of people as the first few months. I bet that there is still a third of the original number of people.” “Really? I doubt it.” Amelia was brutally honest. “Look around, half of the people here are under twenty years old, or however long it’s been.” Oscar motioned to the rest of the survivors. The blonde looked around. He was right. There were a lot of people that looked like they could’ve been born during the apocalypse, just like Bobby. “I guess you’re right.” Amelia told him, finishing her nuts and bashing her hands to rid them from crumbs. In the corner of her eye, she saw Bobby walking out from one of the toilets. “Gotta go!” She called as she ran away from Oscar. “Thanks for the nuts!” “Hey, Mills.” Bobby smiled when he saw her approaching. She wrapped her arms around him when they got close. “Hey, Bobs,” She smiled as they hugged. The embrace lasted for a while. They didn’t care that others were looking. It was a sweet moment of brother-sister affection. “We’re not gonna end up like Charlotte and Ava, are we?” Amelia asked. She knew that Bobby didn’t know the answer to the question. She just needed reassurance. “Of course not.” He smiled, looking her in the eyes. They pulled apart from one-another. “So, what do you think of this place?” Bobby enquired. “It’s a great place to live. We’ve got food, water, beds… but I can’t see it lasting for long.” The blonde admitted. “Why’s that?” “We killed at least six of Dallas’ men, Bobby! He doesn’t seem like the type of person to just let that go. He’s coming for us, I know it.” Navigation Category:Surviving, Not Living Category:Surviving, Not Living Issues Category:Issues